Fail Fast and Iterate
Session resources based on the book Ideaflow: The Only Business Metric That Matters by Jeremy Utley and Perry Klebahn.
Key Takeaways
Problem-solving is a mindset
Practice, document, test, iterate
Spend more time observing
Ideaflow, ideas/time, is a barometer of creative health
Ideaflow is important because businesses have to reinvent themselves to survive
Goal: Move from frustration to what unexpected connections can help me?
Tips
Feed your brain important problems that matter most to your long-term ambitions
Go for a Wonder Wander - start with a good question and think about what everything you see can teach you about it
Brainstorming - gather ideas in advance individually, come together to share ideas, individually contemplate the topic again, come back together to share
Dare to be obvious - might be novel or inspirational to others
Play with questions on the spectrum of multiple frames - scale, quality, emotion, stakes, expectations, similarity, worst ideas, money, time
Question Burst - Pick an issue, explain it for two minutes, take turns asking questions for 4 mins, unpack the questions and expand on those that resonate
Test, analyze, refine, repeat - quick and cheap tests to challenge a single hypothesis
Go where your customers are, observe for a long time, assume intentionality and try to figure out why things are the way they are
Analogous exploration - who does X really well
Grow your skills - seed, sleep, solve - record 10 ideas every morning
Keep a problem queue and an It Really Bugs Me That… list
Empathic interviews - tell me about the last time you… be specific, listen, diagram their journey
To Reflect on
Is your position on the reactive-strategic continuum where you want to be?
What is your work environment like? Do you have opportunities to problem-solve?
Do you have opportunities each day to reflect and problem-solve?
When and how do you work best?
Additional Resources and Thoughts
Ideaflow: The Only Business Metric That Matters by Jeremy Utley and Perry Klebahn
Creativity For Professionals, Dina Venezky, 2022
Corporate Explorer: How Corporations Beat Startups at the Innovation Game by Andrew Binns, Charles A. O'Reilly, and, Michael Tushman, 2022
Questions Are the Answer: A Breakthrough Approach to Your Most Vexing Problems at Work and in Life by Hal Gregersen, 2018
Meeting Design: For Managers, Makers, and Everyone by Kevin M. Hoffman, 2018
The Design Thinking Playbook: Mindful Digital Transformation of Teams, Products, Services, Businesses and Ecosystems by Michael Lewrick, Patrick Link, et al., 2018
Enhancing Creativity Through “Mindless” Work: A Framework of Workday Design Elsbach and Hargadon, 2006
